Dr. Doom is learning Mandarin

Dr. Doom is taking a break from his regimen of gloomy predictions to learn a little Mandarin Chinese.

Nouriel Roubini, an economics professor at New York University best known for predicting the U.S. housing crisis, is taking Mandarin lessons, saying it's critical to understand the main language of the world's most populous nation.

"You have to learn Mandarin," he said. "Mandarin is going to become a key language. That's the future."

Roubini said that wealthy parents in New York are increasingly hiring Chinese nannies so their children pick up the language. He said if he had kids, he'd want them to learn Mandarin too.

While Roubini seems rather optimistic about China's rise, at least one other American investor has taken the theme a step further.

Legendary American investor Jim Rogers moved to Singapore to get closer to China as the global financial crisis kicked off. He said he didn't move directly into a Chinese city because of pollution levels, but wanted to live in a city where Mandarin was spoken.